High school Fall Sports training to resume July 30, Aug. 1 – for now

According to Fallbrook Union High School athletic director Patrick Walker, no concrete decisions have been made as to when summer athletic training will resume in advance of the CIF Fall Season.

Given the fluid nature of county and state mandates being issued because of the coronavirus pandemic, you could say that school officials are dealing with a playing field with constantly moving goalposts.

“We are looking at both the CIF guidelines, recommendations from the State Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and our North County Conference,” Walker said. “We will make sure that safety is our top priority and do what's best for the FHS student-athletes.”

However, the California Interscholastic Federation June 12 issued a statement regarding the return of summer training along with the proposed restart of Fall sports athletic competition.

“We continue to monitor the directives and guidelines released from the Governor's Office, the California Department of Education and State/Local County Health Departments and Agencies as these directives and guidelines are followed by our member schools/school districts when they are planning when and how to reopen school this Fall,” the statement reads. “As our member schools begin planning for the reopening of school, the CIF, in collaboration with our 10 Sections, will be determining by July 20 if Fall Sports will continue as currently scheduled. The CIF is prepared to offer alternative calendars if it is determined by July 20 that Fall sports may not start as scheduled due to ongoing public health and safety concerns.”

San Diego Section Commissioner Joe Heinz told the San Diego Union-Tribune June 12 that football practices are tentatively scheduled to begin July 30. Girls volleyball, cross country, girls golf, girls tennis and boys water polo will start Aug. 1.

With a spike in new cases occurring in recent weeks, of course, all of that could change, which means that July 20 meeting is a big one for thousands of young athletes across the state.

CIF also issued a set of guidelines for schools to consider as they anticipate reopening and provided waivers for pre-participating physical examinations as well as financial hardship cases.

“As we look to the upcoming 2020-2021 school year and sports seasons, our main priority remains everyone's ongoing health and safety during this challenging time,” the statement reads.

In a document released June 10, CIF issued a set of guidelines (https://cifstate.org/covid-19/Resources/RTP_Combined.pdf) based on the National Federation of State High School Associations’ (NFHS) Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) document titled “Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletes and Activities” released May 15.

The document offers a three-phase direction for schools to follow based on where their particular county and state are in dealing with the virus.

“Since NFHS member state associations are a well-respected voice for health and safety issues, the NFHS SMAC strongly urges that these organizations engage with state and local health departments to develop policy regarding coordinated approaches for return to activity for high school, club and youth sports,” the NFHS and SMAC document states.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].